The Second World War Memorial in Bottesford Church was designed by Stanley Blackmore, son of the Rector.

In his memoir, 'Gone but not Forgotten', Stanley Blackmore recalls his schoolboy years at Bottesford Rectory during the war and describes in detail the planning, design and arrangements for erecting the Bottesford W.W. II memorial. The designs are included in the illustrations at the end of the book. This is an abridged extract:

'During the last years of the fighting it was decided to set up a War Memorial Committee ...to erect a memorial plaque in the church...The War Memorial Fund raised a substantial sum ... enough to afford the new building which was to be called The Memorial Hall.

In 1948 the Committee met again ...to discuss the Memorial Plaque for the church, and I was extremely touched when they invited me to design this...especially as I was ...only in the third year of a seven year architectural course...

In Bottesford Church, the memorial plaque for the Great War was an unusually fine example, with a large, single limestone slab on which were engraved the names of all those who had died; with their regimental badges, cast in bronze ...within a beautifully carved decorative alabaster frame. I proposed that the new plaque should employ the same to materials...

Also, that bronze badges should again be included, and made by the same firm, The Dryad Metal Company of Leicester....

Finally it was proposed that two bronze brackets should be mounted, one on each side of the combined memorial, to carry the British Legion Standard and the Union Flag- the latter having been donated to the church by a Major Wright, who had served in the Far East and had been a prisoner of war of the Japanese ...

Then on October 31st 1950 ...a special service was held in Bottesford Church ...by the Bishop of Leicester. The main subject of his address was based upon the five notes of: Remembrance, Reverence, Re-affirmation, Resolution and Recollection. This service of dedication and especially the Bishop's words struck a chord which will long vibrate in the minds of all who were present.'

Stanley Blackmore, (2004) Gone, but not Forgotten : a Leicestershire schoolboy's recollections of life during World War Two. Woodfield: Bognor Regis.

Although it is now in Bottesford Parish, Muston has a separate war memorial. None of the Muston names appear on the Bottesford Memorial. We have just recorded the Muston names, though they are barely legible and the 'uknown' site lists it as 'at risk'. The list is now on the website, but there are some names we have not been able to trace. We would appreciate help in finding the missing details. Leicestershire are starting a War Memorials Project. The article in 'Branchline' for Spring 2009 (Leics County Council) shows a pristine Muston memorial, so I assume they have plans to restore it. I hope it won't look quite so brand new as it does in the picture.